#rishao

Musical Smorgasbord 10/23/2019 Plastic Factory, Imaike Nagoya, Aichi Photos by Matt Chima Review by Travis Finch

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Imaike may seem like just another neighborhood to the layman, but after enough nights on the town in Nagoya, one would find that it is actually a thriving district littered with spots for frequent live music and other arts. Plastic Factory is one of these gems that attracts the bold and the weird, artists and fans alike. If you visit more than once, you’re bound to see a recurring face because Plastic Factory is usually a good time that brings people back for more.

Sometimes Plastic Factory is a packed house where you can’t see someone on the other side of the room. This Saturday night had a little more intimate setting however. That’s not at all a polite way of saying no one was there. It was still full of roaring applause and other forms of exclamation. I simply mean this show had more of the atmosphere of a house show or a big group of friends watching each other take turns on instruments in a garage. Human Name and Masattack’s Steven Stringer harped on this sentiment when he opened the night by stating “Welcome to Musical Smorgasbord, where we have more cables on stage than we know what to do with.”

HNAMA is a two-man act that can be described as “very experimental.” Their sound involves a lot of live looping guitar riffs and vocals. Looping would become a running theme in the night. At one point the audience could feel the different layers pulsating over one another in a barrage of  sonic unfamiliarity. I use the word, “unfamiliarity,” because the music began to feel unpredictable. It definitely wasn’t contrived or anything like that. I heard an audience member say at this point, “I feel like I’m on LSD right now.” I hope the duo wouldn’t be offended by my calling their music “weird,” but I feel like that’s what they’re going for anyways. Beck and Captain Beefheart at the weirdest points in their careers would be intrigued.

The next act was another two-man band referred to as “Futsū No Banana.” If your Japanese is no good, it means “Ordinary Banana.” They were the only instrumental band of the night and this set had a real garage rock vibe to it. I could actually imagine it going over well in a park *cough cough.* The riffs and drums were solid, but the in between banter was also a plus. By request, they finished the set with the early 90’s Power Rangers theme song, but couldn’t quite finish the tune, gave up towards the end, and laughed it off as good sports. It was a funny moment for everyone.

The two male pair acts were then followed by two solo female artists. The first of which was the dazzling Aichi queen of cabaret, May Chu Chu メイチュチュ. She is a multi-talented artist who can be seen belting out tunes with her rockabilly band or hosting a wide range of respectable events with a sharp edge of wit and humor. Tonight she was flying solo on the mic with only the help of a phone hooked up to the PA. Her acts always involve crowd participation and one memorable moment of the night consisted of May Chu Chu assigning different factions of the crowd to each sing a single word of the chorus in Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now.”

The following female artist was truly a unique and creative individual named Rishao who composes the most interesting atmospheric songs with a keyboard, sampler, and other surprising instruments that she would loop live on the spot. As it was my second time seeing her perform, an audience member asked me what Rishao’s sound is like while she was setting up. I started by saying, “it’s electronic,” and the other person asked “Like EDM?” “No, not quite.” I tried to find comparisons but couldn’t. “Have you heard of Crystal Castles? Wait, it’s not like that. You know Portishead? No, nevermind. It’s like Bjork. Actually, not really. Com Truise….what am I saying?” The truth is Rishao’s sound doesn’t give the impression that it’s influenced by anything. It seems like a pure artistic representation of one’s self. I can’t describe it any better than that. Rishao is Rishao and you have to experience it yourself to get what I’m talking about.

Minus Rishao, the other acts all followed with second sets. Futsū no Banana delivered a much more satisfying second set filled with post-rock guitar grooves, building tension on the drums, and overall a more complete sense of songwriting. There was even a metal track aptly titled, “Heavy.” Not to take anything away from the songs in the first set, this is just the time that they really shined. May Chu Chu took the stage again and performed a hilarious music bit teaching colors of the rainbow with a medley of iconic pop culture numbers involving lyrics that the use red, yellow, etc. I won’t spoil the act if you haven’t seen it, but I was thrilled for an excuse to chant a certain gothic metal band from the 90’s. Human Name and Masattack closed out the night by hypnotizing the crowd with more sounds from another realm and overall this show was a very enjoyable evening between friends and musicians.

Special thank you to Heinz Senn for keeping open such a wonderful space for artists and fans alike to frequent.

Head over to Human Name and Masattack's Facebook page for music and upcoming shows: https://www.facebook.com/humanname/?hc_location=ufi